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Thursday, March 13, 2008

What Do You Expect From A Goy?

Ever heard the line above, or similar? I know I have many times throughout my life, and I'm sure most others have as well. When I was younger, it merely bothered me; now, it makes me wince. It is for this reason I was very happy to see one of the points R' Horowitz makes in his latest piece, discussing how one can discuss the Spitzer situation with their children:

Don’t make sweeping generalizations, “Frum people don’t do these things,” or “only gentiles or non-frum people do.” That might carry the day now, but sadly, no community is without its bad apples. Your message to your child will be demolished and your credibility diminished when he/she discovers that we are not completely immune to poor and immoral behavior, and that there are many, morally committed people, outside our community.

There are some other good messages in there as well - check it out. Interestingly, I've often noticed that those who knock non-Jews the most tend to spend the least time around them as a basis for their statements. Meanwhile, those who work with them and especially those who know stories about what goes on in the Jewish community are far less morally superior. This is not to say that the Jewish community doesn't have incredible strengths (and R' Horowitz notes this as well), but there's definitely no reason to knock non-Jews.

SerandEz leans toward current issues - from politics to the Jewish community - with sports, Israel, and even Judaism thrown in. Add some comedy, fun, my own thoughts, and a bunch of my friends, and voila! SerandEz! I hope people are getting something out of it, even if it's just an interesting idea or a quick smile. Enjoy! ~ Ezzie Goldish